Expression of Culture in the Amish Press

Abstract

This study analyzes the ways in which one community newspaper connects a broad, diverse population bound by a common ideal. The subject of the research is the national edition of The Budget, a weekly newspaper produced by and mailed to Amish and Mennonite readers. The newspaper's correspondents typically pass along information about local life, such as illnesses, marriages, and descriptions of community activities. Using Benedict Anderson's construct of "imagined communities" as a framework, this research explores the portrayals of Amish and Mennonite life in those dispatches and considers the ways those portrayals unite readers. The study identifies four dominant themes around which imagined Amish and Mennonite communities may coalesce: emphases on community, tradition, worship and spirituality, and outward symbols of community membership. The study argues that those common themes are especially important to the Amish and Mennonite communities given their growing geographic dispersal. The study illustrates the way a media outlet may affirm community membership in a diaspora. By providing a platform for writers to share daily routines, the newspaper creates a space for the vicarious experience of community.